The Hunt Is On

We have officially started our search for an appartment here in Geneva. Thank heaven we have a relocation company to help with the hard part of setting up appointments and doing all the application paperwork. There seems to be a lot of hoops to jump through in applying for an appartment in Genva. They want to know everything about you.
Anyway, to get back to the point. we went and looked at 5 appartments yesterday. It was pretty much an all day process and James was a little trooper. I have to admit that I was both horrified and at the same time pleasantly surprised by what we saw.
Let me explain. The rents are outrageous and, as my new friend Harmony pointed out, there really is no rhyme or reason as to why one appartment (which is super ugly and nasty) costs more than another appartment (which is vastly superior). It is quite different.
We started of the day with a visit to an are that Brian knows very well. We went to look at a 3 bedroom place in an appartment complex that he lived in while he was a missionary! When the relocation guy driving us around didn't know which building it was Brian told him which one it was. I was very pleasantly surprised by this appartment. It overlooked a nice little garden area and had two large balconies. The only drawback was the little "unequipped" kitchen. (Unequipped means that I have to buy everything except cabinets. Including, Stove, fridge and dishwasher if I want one.) Other than that it really was perfect. It even has the most amazing view of Mont Blanc. Rent CHF 2420.
Next, we went on our way to the second appartment and the relocation guy got a call that it had been rented. He was quite irritated but it didn't bug me. It happens. So, we just went on to the next appartment. This appartment was pretty okay. It was another 3 bedroom but the bedrooms were significantly smaller. It did have a bigger living room so that was nice and it had an "equipped" kitchen. It came with a stove and a fridge. Think mini-fridge. Like the kind you would put in an entertainment room for beverages. Still it was okay and it was the closest to church and downtown of all the appartments we looked at. Rent CHF 2340.
Then we had a 2 hour lunch and James had a nice long nap. After lunch we headed out again to what the relocation guy called a "suburb" of Geneva. It really is about 10 min. from downtown by bus. Not far at all. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL!! It was only 2 bedrooms but they were enormous and it was completely redone. It was on a nice quiet street and has it's own private garage. It has a fully equipped kitchen, including a dishwasher and a large fridge (about half the size of a regular American fridge). And it had a balcony. Rent CHF 2600.
After the glory of that appartment we went on to another "suburb" and saw the nastiest little apparmtnet in the history of appartments. I could just see the disgust on Brian's face when we walked in. First off the elevator was scary. Even the lady that was there to show us the appartment thought that 4 peoople was too many for the elevator. Crazy! Needless to say the bedrooms were small and the kitchen was like something you might see in Verminators (minus the cockroaches). The only attractive thing was the rent. CHF 2150.
And last and almost least was the final appartment that we went to see. It was technically the largest with 3 bedrooms but they were very weirdly shaped. The kitchen was quite nasty in this unit as well and there were about 20 steps leading up to the building. Steps and strollers don't mix well. I can deal with a few but not that many. Just hauling James' stroller up and down the 6 steps here at the hotel already has my back hurting. So that was one that we didn't look at for long. Oh and the rent made it even more unattractive. CHF 3100!! Whatever! They are smoking crack!
All in all, we have decided to apply for 2 of the appartments and will have to hope and pray that we get accepted. I am keeping my fingers crossed because the process is very different than in America. According to the relocation expert, the owners get about 20 applications and then they pick who they want based on whatever they want. There are no explainations or anything. The housing vacancy rate is less than 0.5% here so they can be as picky as they want. Oh, and we probably won't hear back for at least a week. So then we may have to start the process all over again. I sure hope not but some people we know took 8 weeks and 10 applications to finally get into a place.
Oh, and we applied for the first appartment and the third appartment. Pray that we will get one! I know I am! Oh, and next time I promise some pictures of Bimmy.

United Nations

So, I just got back from a little trip to the United Nations European Headquarters here in Geneva. My new friend Harmony sent out the invite to go and check out the water feature that they have there. It just so happens to be at the end of the tram line that I live on so I thought that I would get James out for a couple of hours in the Geneva sun before it gets too cold for such outings.

Apparently the water feature sometimes doesn't run so our backup plan was to walk to the Geneva Botanical Gardens and explore them. I went there when I visited Geneva 10 years ago with my mom. But that will have to be an outing for another day as the water feature was on full blast today. It is one of those kinds that has the water shooting up out of the ground at random places and times.

James was very excited to see the water and he just started squealing right when we walked up. I dutifully put on his organic baby sunscreen and let him down to play in the water. He thought it was super cool except when he accidentally went over a jet that turned on under his head. It was funny to me but not to him. He didn't cry though just "ran" (army crawled) away as fast as he could. I think he had a lot of fun and we even got to have some pretty lively music as there was a very somber demonstration going on to the hippest music ever. As these demonstrators were solemnly marching around the square with the fountain we were in the middle playing and laughing and whatnot. You can see some of them marching in the background of the video.

It really was a nice little outing and I will probably do it again next summer when James can walk and really enjoy the water. Maybe sometime we can actually take a tour of the inside of the U.N. I will have to check into that for sure.

This is what James looked like on the way home. Apparently sunscreen is also a great gel for Bimmys hair. I just had to get a picture of him. Doesn't he look like the happiest, little, chubby baby ever? I think so.

Next stop: Nyon

Last night we were invited by the Roundy's (a couple from the states) to come and hang out with them at the pool. So we spent the better part of the afternoon on a little trip to the town of Nyon (pronounced Knee-own). Nyon is a small city about 15 minutes outside of Geneva by train. The Roundy's came and picked us up at the train station and took us to the pool when we arrived.

James got to take his very first train ride, and I think that he rather enjoyed it. He was very interested in everything around him, including the scenery that seemed to just zip past us. Doesn't he look like a little man sitting there on the train?

James loved splishing and splashing in the kiddie pool. I think he may have even partaken of some of the water to ensure it was indeed liquid. The bigger pool was really the main attraction. As you can see, the pool seems to just flow right into the lake, set in front of the scenic French Alps. Where we were situated, the other side of the lake is France, not Switzerland.

James was a good little man the whole afternoon. I think that he was awake for about 5.5 hours and didnt have a single meltdown or fit. When we got home, he had dinner and went straight down for the night. He is such a good little fella.

Un nouveau parc pour James

We have arrived in Switzerland intact and with some measure of sanity, although Becky was teetering on the edge of psychotic break due primarily to a lack of sleep. James started off the journey as his usual curious self. However, as time ticked on, and the realization that he would be confined to a car seat for a considerable amount of time slowly set in, he began to protest, and protest he did. For the first time we were "those people" with the crying kid that wouldn't do anything to keep him quiet. Basically, we used the airplane as a public "Ferberizing" forum. After about two hours of flight, and multiple nursing episodes, James finally managed to fall asleep, and did so for about 5 hours (of a total 8.5 hour flight) He did so with some considerable help from his personal milk fountain. The three hour layover in London did not help with matters.

I should mention that instaed of bringing our stroller up to us at the gate after arriving in London, they (the airline) decided that they would treat it as baggage and sent it to the baggage claim. That meant that we got to tow our heavy carry ons, including a car seat, through endless corridors, pass through customs, claim the stroller, and wait for a bus to take us to our connecting terminal. James was a sport for most of the time, but about 15 minutes before the flight, he had a meltdown. The only thing that worked....you guessed it, the fountain. That knocked him out for the entire flight.

But since he hadn't gotten a good night sleep, he let us know his displeasure when we immediately stopped to open a bank account at the UBS (United Bank of Switzerland) branch in the airport.

We arrived, however, with no major problems. All of our bags arrived, we maintained our sanity, and we are looking forward to new adventures.

Speaking of which, James found a new park here in Geneva. It is almost as close as the park in Allen. We put him in his new Swiss swing, but I think he was a little sad that his friends Dougie and Elena weren't there.

All down and none to go!!!

That is right. I did it!!! I passed all four clep tests that I needed in one week. It is a miracle and I blame God for it cuz it certainly wasn't me. I have really not had the time to devote to studying as I should have for the tests but it all worked out in the end and I officially do not ever have to take U.S History I or II. Yea!!! Kudos to me!